A convoy of oil tanker trucks crosses into Syria at the Rabia–Yarubiyah border crossing in Rabia, northwest Iraq. File
| Photo Credit: AP

President Donald Trump waves as he arrives on Air Force One on January 4, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md.
| Photo Credit: AP

The world is seeking a stable and predictable environment for trade and economic practices should be fair, transparent and to everyone’s benefit, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Monday (September 8, 2025), against the backdrop of increasing global concerns over Washington’s tariff tussle.

In an address at a virtual BRICS summit, the External Affairs Minister said India strongly believes that the international trading system’s foundational principles of non-discriminatory and rules-based norms must be protected and that there is a need to create more resilient and reliable supply chains.

Mr. Jaishankar represented Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the summit that saw participation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and several other leaders of the grouping.

Also Read | Russia, China oppose ‘discriminatory sanctions’ against BRICS countries, says Vladimir Putin

It was convened by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to discuss trade disruptions triggered by U.S.’s policies on trade and tariff.

The U.S. slapped 50% tariffs on Brazilian exports like in the case of India.

Mr. Jaishankar’s participation at the summit in place of PM Modi is seen as part of New Delhi’s “balancing act” with the Trump administration increasingly getting suspicious about the BRICS.

EXPLAINED | Is a shift underway in India’s foreign policy?

In his remarks, Mr. Jaishankar called for urgent resolution to ongoing conflicts, adding the Global South has experienced a deterioration in its food, energy and fertilizer security. However, the major focus of his speech was on trade.

“The world as a collective is seeking a stable and predictable environment for trade and investment. At the same time, it is imperative that economic practices are fair, transparent and to everyone’s benefit,” he said.

“When there are multiple disruptions, our objective should be to proof it against such shocks. That means creating more resilient, reliable, redundant and shorter supply chains,” he said.

Also Read | U.S. has ‘lost’ India, Russia to ‘darkest’ China: Trump

Mr. Jaishankar said the world requires “constructive and cooperative” approaches to promote trade that is sustainable.

“Increasing barriers and complicating transactions will not help. Neither would the linking of trade measures to non-trade matters,” he said.

The External Affairs Minister said BRICS itself can set an example by reviewing trade flows among its member states.

“Where India is concerned, some of our biggest deficits are with BRICS partners and we have been pressing for expeditious solutions. We hope that this realisation will be part of the takeaways from today’s meeting,” he said.

The remarks assumed significance as they came amid India’s ballooning trade deficit with China.

:The international trading system is based on the foundational principles of open, fair, transparent, non-discriminatory, inclusive, equitable and a rules-based approach with special and differential treatment for developing countries,” Mr. Jaishankar said.

“India strongly believes that this should be protected and nurtured,” he said.

The External Affairs Minister also said that the “state of the world today is a cause for genuine concern”.

He listed devastating impact of COVID-19, major conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and volatility in trade and investment flows as well as extreme climate events as some of the major challenges facing the globe in the last few years.

“In the face of these challenges, the multilateral system appears to be failing the world. That so many serious stresses are being left unaddressed is understandably having consequences for the global order itself,” he said.

“It is this cumulative concern that BRICS is now discussing,” he added.

Mr. Jaishankar also said that the world is seeking an urgent resolution of ongoing conflicts.

“The Global South has experienced a deterioration in its food, energy and fertilizer security. Where shipping is targeted, not just trade but livelihoods also suffer,” he said.

“Selective protection cannot be a global answer. An early end to the hostilities and undertaking diplomacy to ensure a durable solution is the obvious pathway before us,” he said.

The External Affairs Minister argued that the working of international organisations in the last few years has witnessed “major shortfalls” in many areas.

“On key issues, we have unfortunately seen that gridlocks have undermined the search for common ground. These experiences have only made the case for reformed multilateralism generally, and that of the United Nations and its Security Council specifically, more urgent,” he said.

“The BRICS have taken a positive view of this need for reform and we expect that it would collectively become a strong voice for much awaited change,” he said.

Mr. Jaishankar also underlined the need for not losing sight of bigger concerns, especially climate change.

“Sadly, both climate action and climate justice are currently slipping in global priorities. We need new thinking and initiatives as well,” he said.

Published – September 08, 2025 10:47 pm IST

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

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France’s President Emmanuel Macron will host leaders from key European countries on Monday to discuss the continent’s security. File photo
| Photo Credit: AFP

France’s President Emmanuel Macron will host leaders from key European countries on Monday to discuss the continent’s security, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, amid growing concerns over U.S. efforts to end the Ukraine war.

U.S. President Donald Trump blindsided Ukraine and its European backers this week by starting discussions on Russia’s invasion in a call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The new U.S. administration has also warned its NATO allies that Europe will no longer be its top security priority and it may shift forces to as it switches focus to China.

“The President will bring together the main European countries tomorrow for discussions on European security,” Barrot told the France Inter radio broadcaster on Sunday, without saying which nations would participate.

The meeting in Paris on Monday afternoon was to include Britain, Germany, Poland, Italy, Denmark and NATO chief Marc Rutte and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, a European diplomatic source told AFP.

British media have said U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to attend.

The Kremlin has pushed for negotiations — set to kick off in Saudi Arabia in coming days — to discuss not just the Ukraine war as it nears a third anniversary but also broader European security.

That has sparked fears among European nations that Putin could revive demands he floated prior to the 2022 invasion aimed at limiting NATO forces in eastern Europe and US involvement on the continent.

‘Only the Ukrainians can decide’

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the creation of a European army, arguing the continent could no longer count on Washington.

Mr. Zelenskyy said there should be “no decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine” or “about Europe without Europe”.

Barrot said: “Only the Ukrainians can decide to stop fighting and we will support them until they make that decision.”

The Ukrainians “will never stop as long as they are not sure that the peace that is suggested to them will be long-lasting,” he added.

“Who can provide the guarantees? It’s the Europeans.”

Mr. Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, on Saturday said Europe would not be directly involved in talks though it would still have an “input”.

Asked whether Europeans would be at the table, Kellogg responded: “I’m of the school of realism, I think that’s not going to happen.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has appeared to rule out Ukraine joining NATO or retaking all of its territory lost since 2014.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Sunday said that talks between the United States and Russia over the Ukraine war must not rewrite European security.

“There’s no way in which we should open the door for this Russian fantasy of a new, indivisible security order, where it can do spheres of interest,” he said.

Finland shares a 1,300-km border with Russia.

A screen displaying the Sensex results on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Tuesday (February 11, 2025) amid unabated foreign fund outflows and fresh U.S. tariffs that ignited trade war fears.

Declining for the fifth day running, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex dropped 201.06 points to 77,110.74 in initial trade. The NSE Nifty declined 79.55 points to 23,302.05.

From the 30-share blue-chip pack, Power Grid, Zomato, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Tata Steel were the biggest laggards.

Infosys, HCL Tech, Maruti and ITC were among the gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹2,463.72 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted lower while Seoul traded higher.

US markets ended in the positive territory on Monday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.26% to $76.07 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark dropped 548.39 points or 0.70% to settle at a week’s low of 77,311.80 on Monday. The Nifty declined 178.35 points or 0.76% to 23,381.60.

Beijing:

China warned on Tuesday that “no one will win a trade war” after US President-elect Donald Trump vowed to impose sweeping tariffs on goods from China and elsewhere in response to illegal drug trade and immigration.

“China believes that China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature,” Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for China’s embassy in the United States, said in an email to AFP.

In a series of posts to his Truth Social account, Trump on Monday vowed to hit some of the United States’ largest trading partners with duties on all goods entering the country.

He said he would also be slapping China with a 10 percent tariff, “above any additional Tariffs,” in response to what he said was its failure to tackle fentanyl smuggling.

Asked on Tuesday whether Beijing had reached out to Trump’s team for talks, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said: “As a principle, we are open to maintaining dialogue and communication.”

Tariffs are a key part of Trump’s economic agenda, with the Republican vowing wide-ranging duties on allies and adversaries alike while he was on the campaign trail.

Washington has long accused Beijing of complicity in the deadly fentanyl trade that has ravaged communities across the country.

The embassy in Washington’s Liu rebuffed those claims in his statement, detailing steps that Beijing was taking to help curb the trade.

“All these prove that the idea of China knowingly allowing fentanyl precursors to flow into the United States runs completely counter to facts and reality,” he said.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

US President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he intends to impose a 25 percent tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada, along with a 10 percent tariff on imports from China in response to the illegal drug trade and immigration.

In a series of posts to his Truth Social social media account, Trump vowed to hit some of the United States’ largest trading partners with sweeping tariffs on all goods entering the country. 

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” he wrote. 

In another post moments later, the past and future president said he would also be slapping China with a 10 percent tariff, “above any additional Tariffs,” on all of its products entering the US in response to its failure to tackle fentanyl smuggling.  

Tariffs are a key part of Trump’s economic agenda, with the Republican president-elect vowing wide-ranging duties on allies and adversaries alike while he was on the campaign trail ahead of his November 5 victory.

Many economists have warned that tariffs would hurt growth and push up inflation, since they are primarily paid by importers bringing the goods into the US, who often pass those costs on to consumers.

But those in Trump’s inner circle have insisted that the tariffs are a useful bargaining chip for the US to use to push its trading partners to agree to more favorable terms, and to bring back manufacturing jobs from overseas. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)